Hibike! Euphonium

After a painful experience at her final middle-school competition, Kumiko Oumae enters high school intending to leave concert band behind. New classmates and the return of trumpeter Reina Kousaka draw her back in, where she finds a large ensemble with plenty of members but very little discipline.

New adviser Noboru Taki gives the band a goal that sounds almost absurd: reach the national competition. Hard rehearsals and auditions soon place friendships, pride, and personal ambition under real pressure. For Kumiko, playing the euphonium becomes a way to confront feelings she would rather avoid and to understand the difference between simply participating and genuinely wanting to become better.